The 2010 harvest has been late but so far looks sensational. The later ripening has also had the added advantage of lower light angles and lots of great photograph opportunities. Enjoy a sampling of photos from Tablas Creek, taken between October 25th and November 5th, 2010

The end of September is a great time to walk the vineyard. Most varieties are ripe or nearly so, but most of the fruit is still on the vines. And you get a great chance to see where everything is. We're harvesting our last Grenache Blanc and Syrah this week, and our first Grenache Noir and Roussanne.
Mourvedre, Counoise, and Picpoul are still a few weeks off. But the vineyard looks great, and we're excited with 2009.

We had a break in the weather early this week, with morning fog and daytime highs in the mid-70s. The vineyard is poised for veraison, and I spent a few hours prowling around taking pictures mostly in our Grenache, Mourvedre and Vermentino blocks.

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Varner Pinot Noir "Hidden Block" 2004, Santa Cruz Mountains

I've been wanting for a while to start a section where I can post about other wines that I've tasted that have made an impression on me. The world doesn't need another wine reviewer, and I'm not in the business of assigning points or using lots of fancy wine jargon. But, at the same time, I've wanted to be able to post on wines that I have found memorable, and (when appropriate) turn a few people on to them as well.

The first wine in this series is the Varner "Hidden Block" 2004 Pinot Noir from the Santa Cruz mountains. It is easily one of the best Pinot Noirs I've ever had from California. I was fortunate to stumble upon it; a friend from college who has been completing his pediatric residency at Stanford brought it down on a visit he made with his family earlier this spring. We didn't open the wine while they were in town, and it wasn't until a couple of months ago that we opened it up. It was a revelation: rich but focused, vibrant with fruit but not jammy, with nice acids and good structure holding it all together.

I did a little research on it, and became even more impressed. The brother team of Jim and Bob Varner work in many ways similarly to how we do at Tablas Creek: estate fruit, organic farming practices, native yeasts, minimal intervention in the winemaking, and a push, whenever possible, for producing wines that express the place in which they're grown. I flat-out loved the wine, and consider myself very lucky to have gotten one of their last cases before they sold out. If you want to learn more, you can read a little at www.varnerwine.com.

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Varner Pinot Noir "Hidden Block" 2004, Santa Cruz Mountains

I've been wanting for a while to start a section where I can post about other wines that I've tasted that have made an impression on me. The world doesn't need another wine reviewer, and I'm not in the business of assigning points or using lots of fancy wine jargon. But, at the same time, I've wanted to be able to post on wines that I have found memorable, and (when appropriate) turn a few people on to them as well.

The first wine in this series is the Varner "Hidden Block" 2004 Pinot Noir from the Santa Cruz mountains. It is easily one of the best Pinot Noirs I've ever had from California. I was fortunate to stumble upon it; a friend from college who has been completing his pediatric residency at Stanford brought it down on a visit he made with his family earlier this spring. We didn't open the wine while they were in town, and it wasn't until a couple of months ago that we opened it up. It was a revelation: rich but focused, vibrant with fruit but not jammy, with nice acids and good structure holding it all together.

I did a little research on it, and became even more impressed. The brother team of Jim and Bob Varner work in many ways similarly to how we do at Tablas Creek: estate fruit, organic farming practices, native yeasts, minimal intervention in the winemaking, and a push, whenever possible, for producing wines that express the place in which they're grown. I flat-out loved the wine, and consider myself very lucky to have gotten one of their last cases before they sold out. If you want to learn more, you can read a little at www.varnerwine.com.